News Review interview: Marcus Du Sautoy

The colourful new public face of science has an odd way of sharing his passion with a wider audience

Marcus du Sautoy balances a football on his head, possibly not what you might expect from an Oxford professor. Nor would most senior academics challenge a visiting photographer to a game of keepy-uppy, boast of their aggressive style as a defensive midfielder or sport plaster casts after breaking bones during a tough game against some writers from Germany. And we won't even mention the pink shirt and the green trousers.

Du Sautoy, 43, a mathematician, is the new head cheerleader for British science, a position more formally known as the Oxford University professor for the public understanding of science, which he inherited from Richard Dawkins. From now on it is his job to ensure the public heart beats a little bit faster when confronted with stuff like quarks, osmosis or the periodic table.

So it's a surprise to learn that he doesn't like science: so imprecise and unreliable, not at